The objective of this research are to determine the patterns and varying conditions of retirement among older working unmarried and married women. The rationale of the study is that retirement is a complex phenomenon with multiple indicators and multiple causes. Among the determinants of retirement to be studied are the labor force history, pension coverage, health status, race, age, economic status, education and family support requirements of older women. The data are drawn from the 1969 to 1975 waves of the Social Security Administration's Longitudinal Retirement History Study and from the earnings records of respondent's to the study. Confirmatory maximum likelihood factor analysis and logistic regression analyses will be applied to these data. The first year of the study has focused on unmarried women, i.e. those widowed, separated/divorced and never married. The preliminary results include that (1) all unmarried working groups exhibit the same rates of earlier vs later retirement patterns and (2) widows and never married older women display similar patterns of retirement to older men, with age, health status and pension coverage acting as major determinants of retirement. Women with longer, sustained work histories (measured by years of work under Social Security coverage) are in relative advantaged positions at retirement. Pension coverage is more important in the retirement of never married workers, while social security benefit is more important for widows. In short, while patterns are similar, determinants are different. The second year of the study will extend the analysis to older married woman and compare all marital status groups using structural equation models and logistic estimation techniques.